May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of the Proverbs, chapter 18, and we'll read verse 10. The book of the Proverbs, chapter
18, and we'll read verse 10. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it,
and it is safe. which is quite amazing really,
in this book of the Proverbs, how many wonderful statements
there are. And this is one of the very wonderful
statements that should encourage us in the day and age in which
we live, in particular perhaps today, to know that we have a
great God. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. And it's perhaps interesting
for us, perhaps for our young people especially, to think of
why this analogy is given as a strong tower. Well the fact
was that when tower cities or towns were built in Old Testament
times, there was usually a tower built perhaps in the middle or
perhaps in a safest place so that if the enemy came and fought
against that town, or that city, and were able to get in through
the gates, et cetera, then there was this tower which was built,
and it was a very strong tower, and you can read in the Word
of God a number of places where people resorted to this, and
they went into the tower, and there was usually only one door,
one door at the bottom, and very secure, And the tower in itself,
of course, was very strong, even if it was square or circular,
they were very strong by comparison, and they could be built quite
high. So a lot of people would get into these towers, and then
they would shut the door and bolt it, and they were very secure. And the only way that they managed
to succeed in beating down these towers often was by setting them
alight. They often used to, take trees
and build up a large bonfire outside which would burn down
the tower. And you may remember there was
the case of that King Elimelech who had already burnt down one
tower and then he pursued into another city and he came to the
tower and they tried to beat down the door without success
and he was therefore close to the door and a woman who was
on the top of the tower got a part of a millstone and dropped it
over the edge and it cracked the king's head open and the
effect was that eventually he died. So that's the position
that a tower therefore in the days of the scriptures were really
a safe place. We might say a place of refuge. So if we think of that in relation
to this verse, it perhaps gives us some good understanding of
the name of the Lord is like this, a strong tower, a place,
a refuge, a place of blessing, a place of safety, as we say,
the righteous runneth into it and is safe. So, as we think
of this, These words tell us the name of the Lord. Well, the
name of the Lord, of course, is extensive, and the name of
the Lord has many names. We know the Lord himself is described
as a king, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. So, therefore, we can think of
this gracious God as king of kings and lord of lords and as
such therefore surely he is to his people a strong tower. Now the word of God always has
really a double reference to our natural life and also to
our spiritual life. Of course the the most important
thing is for our spiritual life although men and women boys and
girls like to think more of their natural life than of their spiritual
life but nonetheless it is really there for our spiritual instruction
to think then the name of the lord is a strong tower as the
king the king of kings the one that we can come to at any time
and the one who is who rules and reigns You see, it rules
and reigns today. We see the problem with this
coronavirus, which is making havoc, really, in so many places
and causing the world economy to virtually collapse. We recognize
it is the power of God. The Lord God is the king, the
king of kings, and poor little men, puny man on this earth,
really have no answer to come and to solve the problem which
exists at the present time. They're desperately trying to
stop it and may be having some success, but nonetheless, it's
very clear that the Lord God has spoken. The Lord God is working. The Lord God is doing that which
he pleases. He is, therefore, the one who
is in control. the one who is the King, the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But you see, men will not acknowledge
it. They never would. They always
rebelled. And it's the same today. What
a blessing it is if men's hearts should be turned to realise there
is a God in heaven who is in charge of the whole world. And
that one is the Lord God. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. Yes, because that can't be overcome. The towers I mentioned in cities
were often very strong and couldn't really be overcome. Sometimes
the only way the enemy could succeed was by starving the people,
not allowing them to get any food inside the tower, and that
was the only way they were able to succeed. Well, the name of
the Lord is a strong tower, and not only Is he a king of kings? He is, of course, a prophet,
the prophet, the great prophet. And what a wonderful truth it
is to realize that we have in the Word of God a prophecy of
God relating to us today, relating to the world at large. The Lord
has spoken. If you and I read the Word of
God carefully, we will find how it relates to us individually
today. It's not a book that becomes
old-fashioned. It's not a book that gets out
of date. It's a book which explains in detail our condition, our
spiritual condition. It's very clearly enumerated. And what a blessing it is, therefore,
as we journey on through this life with many things to upset
us, many things to concern us, many things to worry us. And
yet, if we have this confidence to read the Word of God and to
realize we have a blessed book, the Bible, which the Lord has
written through men, men have been used, but God spoke into
those men to write the Word of God, and we have it now today
to be able to read ourselves. And therefore we have this Great
and glorious prophecy, really, of the Word of God. The name
of the Lord, this name, the name of God as a prophet, a king. And then, of course, he is also,
he is the good shepherd. And that's a lovely, comforting
thought, isn't it? We have this Lord, who is a strong
tower. You see, he's one that we can
continually come to, in whatever need we may have, as a shepherd
looks after his sheep, doesn't he? We know what a shepherd's
job is, is to look after his sheep. And we have a heavenly
shepherd who looks after his people. David said, didn't he,
in the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And that was a confidence, a
humble confidence in his God. And it's good today, if we realise
we have this great Lord, the name of the Lord, as our shepherd,
and are able to say, yes, the Lord is my shepherd. He's the one who's watching over
me. He's the one who's guiding me. He's the one who's leading me. David was led, wasn't he, in
his life. And blessed be God, he leads
his people today. He leads each one of us in a
path which is good for us, in a path which will be beneficial
for us, and in a path which will at last lead us and bring us
safe home to glory in heaven at last. You see, the Lord leads
his people as a heavenly shepherd. What a blessing that is. We often
seem to forget that we have a shepherd, the Lord God. the name of the
Lord as a shepherd. He is a strong tower. If you and I are able to realise
the strength of this word and to recognise we have this great
and glorious Saviour who does look after us. He knows all about
us. He is with us. He's not forgotten
us. A good shepherd doesn't forget
his sheep. He knows where they are. He counts
them. He looks after them. He's worried
about their health. He's worried about their position.
And so it is with our heavenly shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. To be able to come then to this
great, great God as our shepherd and seek for his guidance, and
to seek for his direction. What a mercy it is. And then
of course we have the Lord. There is a strong tower as the
Saviour. The Saviour of sinners and that
should be a wonderful encouragement. Especially as we look at ourselves
and realise how we fail so often and we don't do that that we
should do and we do that we should not do. We realise we have a
great and glorious Saviour, one who has come into this world
to save us. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. Has the Lord come to us like
that, as our Saviour? As the Lord, this strong tower. We all need a Saviour. We all
need an almighty Saviour. We all need a strong Saviour
and we're thankful we have that in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is almighty and no one can resist the blessed work of our Saviour
and the blessed work of our Saviour in redemption as our great Redeemer. This is also, isn't it, the name
of the Lord is a strong tower, surely as our Saviour, as our
Redeemer. That is a strength to us. It should be a wonderful strength
to us, as we think when we travel through this life, day by day,
we have this Saviour, the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved
us so much that He gave His life in order that our sins might
be washed away in his most precious and valuable blood. Well, the name of the Lord as
our Redeemer, that should be a great strength for us as we
ponder it and as we consider it. The name of the Lord is a
strong tower. Well, and then also perhaps we
might just say he is a rock. A rock, isn't he? The Lord doesn't
move. The Lord doesn't change. He is
the same yesterday and today and forever. That's why we have
this, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. Nothing moves,
almighty God. All the power of Satan cannot
move, almighty God. He is the one who does not change. I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore ye sons of Jacob, are not consumed. So as we ponder
this, to think, well, what a great and wonderful God we have, the
name of the Lord. There are so many names, we've
only touched on just a few, but there are important and you can
ponder the names of God and the relevance of those names to our
individual life, our individual journey through life. and may
it be that which is a strength to us. And just like this, a
strong tower, because Solomon goes on to say, the righteous
runneth into it and is safe. Now, this tower is, of course,
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The unrighteous run away
from the Saviour. They don't want anything to do
with Him. They don't want to acknowledge
that He is their Lord and Master. But those who are righteous,
that means those who have been born again by the Spirit of God,
those who have been clothed with His righteousness, these are
the righteous and therefore, what do they do in times of difficulty? in times
of trial. Well, the word here is, and it's
worth noticing, they run into this town. They run to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, that's a good test, isn't
it, for the reality of our religion, you know. So when we have a problem,
when we have difficulties, what do we do? Do we run to the Lord
Jesus Christ as this great tower, this strong tower, because we're
told the righteous do, the righteous runneth into it. What a mercy
then today if you and I run to the Saviour, run to the Lord
Jesus Christ. We don't run anywhere else. Men
run everywhere, don't they? They run here and there, they
seek advice from this one and that one. What a blessing if
you and I as a a child of God who has a Heavenly Father run
to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. This Lord, this Lord
who is this strong tower, this One who knows all about us, and
we have that confidence He does know about us, and we have that
confidence in Him, and that's why This word is so precious. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. Let us not be amongst those who
are self-righteous and rely on our own ability, our own skills,
our own wisdom. We're told by James in his little
epistle, If any of you lack wisdom, lack wisdom, we are to come to
the Lord and not look to our own wisdom. If any of you lack
wisdom, often we sometimes do, but we should think that this
Lord, He's a strong tower and it's the righteous that run into
it. If we lack wisdom as to what
to do, if we lack wisdom perhaps into look into our own hearts
and being able to discern where we stand in our spiritual journey. We have a great God who will
explain to us, a great God who opens to us the Word of God so
that it comes to our souls and comes to our hearts and indeed
is a blessing to us. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower the righteous runneth into it, and it is safe." Well, this
morning, the Lord Jesus Christ, is He the one to whom you and
I continually resort. In every time of need, as we
travel through life, we come to Him. We come to Him, perhaps,
with our failures. And we have many failures in
our life. that we come to him confessing
our sin, realising that he is this strong tower. We find the
battle of life sometimes very difficult. We find our adversary
the devil is a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may
devour. We may perhaps be concerned and
feel that sometimes we may be overcome. Well, what a blessing
it is then to realise we have Christ as this strong tower,
this wonderful blessing, this wonderful favour, where to we
can come and continually resort. We can come to this strong tower,
the Lord Jesus Christ, at any time, can't we? The Lord never
sleeps. He never slumbers. He is always
the same. What a favour for us therefore,
whatever condition we're in, wherever we are, we can always
call upon this name. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. And perhaps people may realise
it in the days to come, in the world at large, as perhaps this
virus takes a greater hold to realise that then it may be that
men and women may come and cry unto the Lord, the Lord God,
and call upon Him, realising they have no faith in mankind,
their lack of ability, but to realise there is this great God
unto whom we can come, to whom we can pour out our heart, to
whom we can confess all our failures and all our concerns, all our
anxieties, we can bring to this God, because He is a great God. He is this strong tower. The blessing is that the devil
will not be able to overcome us if we are safe in the Saviour. Him writer says, safe in the
arms of Jesus is a place of wonderful safety. It's very easy for us
to forget and try and manage things ourselves and trying to
seek to justify ourselves perhaps in certain aspects of our life
and perhaps desire that we might be able to plan our little life
when the Lord has a great and glorious plan which is far, far
superior. It's a mercy when we know the
truth of that word, Immanuel. It means, of course, God with
us. Immanuel, God with us. This name
of the Lord is a strong tower to realise that God is with us. going with us, taking care of
us, and helping us to come to Him, casting all your care upon
Him, for He careth for you." You know, that's a very simple
statement, but it's much harder to actually work out. Casting
all your care upon Him. That means what it says. If God
is His strong tower, we should realise He is able to take everything,
all our cares, all our concerns, and yet you see often we try
to carry on a bit ourselves. We don't pass it all on. No,
we just struggle on. We forget. Perhaps we don't want
to cast all our care upon Him. But if this great God cares for
us, if we have a good hope that he cares for us, if he is this
great and glorious Lord, this strong tower, surely we should
be concerned to be able to come to him and leave it with the
Lord, leave it with the Lord and not to struggle on ourselves
trying to solve the problems, perhaps trying to turn away from
the things which so easily beset us, the sins of our life, we
may struggle to turn away from them. We forget we have a great
and glorious Lord who is strong. Stronger than Satan. Satan's
very strong. But the Lord God is stronger.
And what a merciful thing it is to realize that. God is a God of mercy. He always has been, my friends,
and He always will be a God of mercy. And in the 57th Psalm,
we read these very simple words. The first verse, be merciful
unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me, for my soul
trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings,
Will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed? I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. But often we perhaps
fail to realise that God does perform everything for us. He doesn't leave us. He doesn't
forsake us. And that's why this word is so
wonderful when David says, he says, my soul trusteth in thee,
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. Now we recognise the reality
of that because the example is given here of wings which are
stretched out and obviously If it was like a picture of a mother
hen with her wings spread out and the little chicks that they
gather, underneath those wings, they're close to the mother hen.
They're not a long way away. They're close there. And so we
have this statement, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. To be found there, close to the
Lord, not wandering away, not looking elsewhere, close to the
Lord, this great God, who is a strong tower. And if so, the
righteous runneth into it and is safe. There is only, isn't
there, one place of true safety. Safety for you and me. Safety
for our soul. And where is that? In Christ. In Christ. It's the only place
of safety. And if you, my friends, are outside
of Christ, there is no safety. We shall be eternally lost. But if we are in Christ, we shall
be eternally safe. What a mercy to understand these
truths. What a mercy. to have an evidence
of them in our very souls and be able to realise that this
safety is eternal. We'll never depart. Safety is
of the Lord. It's a good lesson to learn,
isn't it? Safety is of the Lord and it
is an eternal safety. If we are in Christ, Christ in
us, Christ in you, the hope of glory, there is safety, isn't
there? Wonderful place, wonderful safety. What a mercy for us then. If
we understand the blessed words we have in this text this morning,
the name of the Lord is a strong tower. a place of strength, a
place of support. You see, this is why we have
the Word of God to speak to us and direct us and to encourage
us as we pass on through day by day, through our little life,
and it is only a little life. If we live to over 100, it's
still only a little life. And yet to have the confidence
and the evidence and the assurance that this Lord is our strong
tower, that one that we continually resort unto. What a blessing
it is if God gives us that strength and gives us that ability to
come to him and to commit our way unto him and to trust in
him. You know, Psalmist David, he
tells us his reliance upon this great God and in the 61st Psalm
he says, from the end of the earth would I cry unto thee when
my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. So even when he felt his his
heart was overwhelmed he still said I will cry unto thee." And
that's good, isn't it? When we have that confidence
in this Lord as this strong tower. He goes on to testify of what
God meant to him. For thou hast been a shelter
for me and a strong tower from the enemy. You see, a strong
tower from the enemy. Thou hast been a shelter for
me and a strong tower from the enemy. David was able to speak
from a personal experience. And what a mercy it is for us
today. If you and I can look back in our lives to realize,
yes, the name of the Lord has been, to me also, a strong tower. See, Solomon wrote the Proverbs.
Solomon's making this statement. Solomon, of course, was the son
of David. And David's making this statement
in very, very similar words when he says, thou hast been a shelter
for me and a strong tower from the enemy. David had many enemies. We today have many enemies as
well. Of course, we have that great enemy of our souls, the
devil, who always indeed try to turn us away from God, turn
us away from this strong tower. But, says David, I will abide
in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covet of
thy wings. He desired to be close to the
Saviour. What a mercy it is if you and
I desire to be close to the Saviour. You know, if you and I are close
to the Saviour, it will have a separating effect. And that
separating effect will be to take us away more and more from
the things of this vain world and separate us more and more
unto the Saviour, to keep close by Him. That's a safe place. That's a good place. That's a
place of refuge. That's a place of peace. That's
a place of encouragement. What a mercy it is then to have
this God. This God is described here. The
name of the Lord is a strong tower. the righteous runneth
into it and is safe. Well, these words are for our
instruction and may we be found always then seeking for this
safety, safety in Christ and in every time of need, running
to Christ, running to Christ, not running elsewhere, running
to Christ. It's a great blessing, isn't
it? If we are true believers, to not be left to look anywhere
else, but to run to Christ. Christ knows what you and I need.
He's a strong tower. Christ knows the support we need. He knows the strength we require. Let's look to Him. There is a
complete sufficiency in Christ to answer our every need. Don't
look outside of the Saviour, look to Me. Look to the Saviour,
look unto Me as Isaiah said, look unto Me, be saved for I
am God and there is none else. We need sometimes just to be
reminded of these things. This Lord who is a strong tower,
may He truly be our strong tower so that it's not just a statement
but it's one that we can lay hold of and by the grace of God
can claim that the Lord is to us this strong tower and this
wonderful Lord that we can come to and we can run to. There is
safety, safety in Christ. Oh then to hear these words and
to be encouraged. David said he shall abide before
God forever. May we be concerned to abide
with our God, before our God, forever and not turn away. And again in an earlier psalm,
a well-known psalm, Psalm 18, David again speaks of the support
he has And he encouraged me, he said, I will love thee, O
Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress,
my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust. My buckler,
buckler means a little shield, and the hoard of my salvation,
and my high tower. was able to confirm these things. He was able to say, and what
a good thing it would be if you and I today can also confirm
in a personal way, that he wasn't speaking about other people here,
he was speaking about his own testimony. The Lord is my rock,
Izzy our rock. And my fortress, you might say
my strong tower, and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I
will trust, my buckler and the hoard of my salvation, and my
high tower. Yes, this is our God. This is the God that doesn't
change. And in the day and age in which we live, in the present
time, may we have this humble and yet blessed confidence in
this God. who does deliver and as situations
direct us to our need and direct us to Christ and to see in him
all our salvation. Nothing lacking because the Lord
Jesus came into this world to deliver us, to save our soul, Give us that great and glorious
good hope through His grace, His unmerited favour, that it
is well with our souls. Well, Solomon here is speaking
like this. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. It's a very clear statement he's
making. But what a mercy it is when you
and I can confirm that this statement is true. We know the Word of God is true.
But it's a good thing when you and I can understand it and concur
and agree it is true. And it is true because I have
tested the truth of it and I've proved the truth of it. So I
can confirm that what God's Word said is right because God has
dealt with me and brought me into a situation where I know
by personal experience that this Lord is and has been a strong
tower to me and I have been blessed to be able to come and to run
unto Christ. I wonder if you and I this morning
can look back in our lives to occasions when we run to Christ. The Song of Solomon tells us,
draw me, we will run after thee. It's wonderful, isn't it? The
Holy Spirit draws us to Christ and we see in Him a wonderful
glory and an attraction which is far superior to the things
of this world. and the effect has been to make
us to run to Christ. Draw me, says Solomon there,
and I will run after thee. The righteous runneth into it,
runs to Christ. Well, it's good if you and I
have the evidence of this in our spiritual life, times when
we've run to Christ, There may have been times when we've run
away from Christ. We haven't wanted to have anything
to do with the things of God. We haven't wanted to be constrained
by the things of God and we've run away. Blessed be God when
He's drawn us to Himself. Blessed be God when we've seen
His love toward us and we realise He has loved us with everlasting
love. And that drawing power has given
us that desire to run. Draw me, we will run after Thee,
run after Christ. We see the path that He's taken,
and we desire to walk in that path. We desire to go in that
path. We desire to be with Christ.
You know, every true believer has before them that eternity
of glory with Christ. Our friends, let's be very clear.
If you and I don't want to be with Christ in this life, we
won't want to be with Christ in glory. If Christ means nothing to you
and me in this life, then there will be no place for us in heaven
because we won't want to be there. If Christ means something to
you and me today, if He is precious to us, if He is glorious to us,
Then you see we have a foretaste of what it will be to be with
Christ eternally in glory, to view his lovely face, to worship
him without a veil between, and to be taken up eternally with
the things of God. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, strong. God is all strength. Don't rely
on your own strength. Look to the Saviour. Cast your
care upon Him. Seek that He will direct you,
that He will bless you, He will draw you to Himself. And to recognise
the wonderful favour of walking with the Lord. The name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. Again, safety is of the Lord. There is no safety outside of
Christ. Be very clear about that. But
there is safety in Christ. It is, He is that strong tower
and no one will be able to break it down. And once in Him, in
Him forever. Well, may we today ponder the
greatness of these words and the glory of them. and have that
confidence and that desire to acknowledge what Solomon said
in these words and to be able to confirm it out of our own
hearts to have the evidence that we are one of those whom God
has loved with everlasting love. Amen.